Chapter 51 Execution

The agent of the Nine Rays hesitated for a fleeting moment, unease flashing in his eyes.

He parted his lips as if wanting to say something, but ultimately nodded instead, turned on his heel, and walked away in quick strides.

Xingyu glided silently like a phantom through the shadows, swiftly shifting her position.

When she reformed her human shape, she found herself in the dark corner of an unfamiliar alleyway—a brand-new, concealed hiding spot.

The Supervisor’s gaze swept slowly over the area with a tangible weight—

Clearly, he had already discovered her new hiding place.

This came as no surprise; rather, it confirmed Xingyu’s judgment.

Her [Information Reading] could only perceive matters at close range, whereas the range of the Supervisor’s ability was, by description, far greater than hers.

While she was cautiously closing the distance, the Supervisor had likely been aware of her presence all along.

Xingyu gripped her blade tighter, the black sword reflecting the cold light of the night.

Although her physical form had completely altered, [Information Reading] was, after all, not an offensive supernatural ability.

The Supervisor possessed abilities far more offensive than hers, several distinct combat effects, supernatural enhancements to his own physique, over a decade of combat experience, and attire crafted from special fabrics...

The Supervisor slowly raised his right hand. Blood flowed across his fingertips, weaving into thin, crimson threads.

"Come out," the Supervisor’s voice was low and icy, echoing through the empty street. "I know you're there."

Since she had already been exposed, there was no need to evade further.

Steeling herself for a fight to the death, Xingyu took a deep breath and mapped out her next move.

There were two viable approaches she could attempt.

The first was a direct confrontation.

The moment she made up her mind, she kicked over a nearby trash can. The harsh clatter against the ground sounded piercingly loud in the silent night.

Taking advantage of the split second when the Supervisor was distracted by the sudden noise, Xingyu’s body instantly transformed into an intangible fluid.

When she coalesced back into form, she was pressed tight against her opponent’s back—

Her breathing was barely audible, every single muscle strained to its absolute limit.

Beneath a faint glimmer of light, the short sword swept out a chilling arc, aiming straight for the fatal vulnerability at the Supervisor’s neck.

The Supervisor’s reaction was even faster than Xingyu had anticipated.

The exact moment her blade was about to touch him, a blood-red barrier suddenly condensed in front of him.

The tip of the sword pierced the blood barrier, but was immediately halted by this unexpected defense.

Xingyu could feel the powerful recoil traveling up her arm, drastically dampening the momentum of the blade.

"...Tch." Xingyu retreated warily, instinctively putting some distance between them.

This was her first time decisively seizing the initiative, yet it had failed to yield the expected result.

The pain brought on by the morphological shifts persisted, impairing her focus and control.

Perhaps maintaining her human form was more advantageous for unleashing her true strength after all.

"...Oh? It's you." The Supervisor's voice broke the brief silence.

He turned around slowly, showing not a trace of panic, but instead wearing a contemptuous smile. "So that's how it is. I was wondering why the scent felt somewhat familiar."

Mid-sentence, he flicked his right hand.

Blood welled up from the skin of his arms without warning, immediately dispersing into the air and weaving into an even denser web of red threads.

The blood filaments suspended in the midair suddenly sprang to life, lunging at Xingyu like countless tiny serpents.

Xingyu instinctively dodged, narrowly avoiding the majority of the blood threads. Even so, a few grazed her body, leaving behind faint, shallow scratches.

She had not come here to chat with the Supervisor.

The moment her eyes swept over the wounds on her body, she raised her blade once more, charging at the Supervisor without a second thought.

The short sword shot forward like an unholstered arrow, aiming directly for the Supervisor’s heart.

However, just as the tip of the blade was about to reach its target, a blood-red barrier condensed once more.

As if anticipating this, Xingyu abruptly altered her trajectory, shifting the edge of her blade to bypass the blood screen and thrusting straight at the Supervisor's chest.

He violently arched backward while all the blood in the air condensed simultaneously, slashing toward Xingyu like a blade. Instead of retreating, Xingyu pressed forward, proactively meeting the blood blade with her left arm while continuing to thrust the short sword in her right hand forward.

With a sickening squelch, the blood blade sliced across Xingyu’s left arm, leaving behind a gruesome gash.

A trickle of fresh blood ran down her arm; yet this wound, which should have been deep enough to expose the bone, was merely a tearing of the flesh.

Simultaneously, her short sword breached the Supervisor’s defense.

The tip of the blade met unexpected resistance at his collarbone, the special fabric of his suit acting like resilient armor. The short sword trembled slightly, emitting the harsh screech of metal scraping against textile.

Yet that vibration lasted only a fraction of a second.

Accompanied by a crisp tearing sound, the short sword broke through the seemingly impenetrable defense, burying itself into the side of the Supervisor’s neck.

The force unleashed in this strike far exceeded human imagination.

Although his specialized attire cushioned the vast majority of the impact, the blade successfully penetrated flesh and blood, nearly caving in the entirety of his neck.

Xingyu exerted force horizontally without hesitation, attempting to inflict greater damage.

He jerked his head back violently, dispersing much of the force, so that the blade merely sliced a long wound across his clothing rather than delivering a fatal blow.

The Supervisor let out a muffled grunt of pain, his voice turning hoarse from the damage to his neck muscles.

His counterattack was swift. Seizing the opportunity, his hand clamped around Xingyu’s wrist like a steel vise.

The grip was so immense that Xingyu felt as though her bones were about to shatter—

She could hear a cracking sound emanating from the bones of her wrist.

The pain caused Xingyu’s pupils to constrict slightly. Without a moment's hesitation, she used the leverage to spring upward, exploiting her smaller stature to kick fiercely at the Supervisor's torso.

The Supervisor was forced to release his grip, stumbling backward. The massive impact sent him crashing heavily against the wall with a deafening thud.

The entire wall fractured into a spiderweb of cracks under the sheer force. Gravel and dust cascaded down, forming a hazy fog in the air.

The Supervisor coughed up a mouthful of blood in a rather disheveled state, the crimson fluid streaming down the corner of his mouth. Despite his astonishing protection, the internal shock and concussive force had dealt him severe damage.

Her left wrist...

The price of this exchange was not insignificant.

Xingyu could feel that the moment her left wrist was gripped, it had lost its strength, her fingertips twitching uncontrollably.

Fortunately, she had undergone some training in recovering from being disarmed.

Even so, her fingers instinctively curled tightly around the blade, as if the sword had already become an extension of her own body.

The Supervisor slowly straightened up, his movements betraying a tremor that was hard to detect. His breathing grew heavy, accompanied by painful gasps.

He raised a hand to wipe his neck, his fingertips brushing against the deep, bone-visible gash, causing his expression to contort hideously.

Blood continually gushed from the wound like a crimson stream, staining his suit.

Disbelief and fury surfaced in the Supervisor’s eyes for the very first time, clearly unaccustomed to being battered to such a wretched state in a fight.

"...Interesting," he grated out through clenched teeth.

Damage to his vocal cords rendered his voice harsh and distorted, every word sounding as though it had been forcefully squeezed from the depths of his throat.

He made no effort to conceal his murderous intent, every syllable laced with poison: "Little brat, have you mutated too?"

"Perhaps," Xingyu answered his words for the very first time.

Her voice rang out with absolute clarity in the stillness of the night.

She concealed her left hand behind her back to mask the unnatural drooping of her fingertips.

Her gaze swept over the spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the wall, the bloodstains and rubble scattered on the ground.

She knew her physical constitution had escalated once more, transcending even her previous limits.

This realization stirred an inexplicable excitement deep within her chest.

Under these circumstances, the Supervisor suddenly burst into laughter—a laugh filled entirely with madness and murderous intent, jarringly sharp in the silent night.

Xingyu gripped her blade tightly, closing in on the Supervisor with heightened vigilance. She closely observed his movements and the flow of his blood, standing ready to counter any sudden assault.

"Let me guess..." His laughter cut through the stillness of the night like a sharp blade. His voice remained hoarse from the neck injury, yet it was still fraught with a chilling excitement: "Resilience? Hardening? Or simply sheer strength?"

Without further hesitation, Xingyu launched her attack.

She abruptly closed the distance to the Supervisor, her short sword thrusting straight for his heart.

His blood barrier failed to form in time, leaving him to raise his arms and barely block his chest.

However, right as the blade tip was about to pierce him, a piercing, sharp pain swept across her brain.

Countless minuscule electrical currents raged across her nerve endings.

Her vision instantly blurred, and she lost control over her entire body within a fraction of a second. Her stride faltered as she momentarily lost her balance.

A voice that had sounded once before echoed deep within her mind.

[Violation detected, behavior control activated!]

[Directive executed: Prohibit attacking the Supervisor!]

[Directive repeated: Prohibit attacking the Supervisor!!]

[Warning level: Maximum!]

[Mandatory execution! Halt all actions!]